~Paid Search: aka (SEM) search engine marketing, this is where marketers purchase small text ads that are triggered when certain keywords are searched

~Optimized Search:aka SEO, this is a technical process where webmasters make changes to their pages in an order to rank well “organically” through a google search for example

These next two search optimization techniques are altered specifically for the PR Professional:

~Reputational Search: this uses PR tactics to influence search results around certain keywords. There are three basic components to this:

Research/planning

Content Development

Measurement

~Social Search: this is based around creating ‘embassies’ or places where employees work to provide for both the community and the company they work for.

What surprised me?

Search engines have an active global reach of 89.5% of all users

Google has a ranking system called “Page Rank” that assigns every page on the internet a rank on a scale from 1 to 10. The higher the rank, the more that page can affect search results.

There are websites called “link farms” that are also known as dummy sites that allow users to place as many “pointers” to their site as possible.

Many social networking websites are now incorporating search engine like applications. For instance, many people now use Twitter Search instead of Google News.

What do I want to learn more about?

I want to learn more about where social media and online presence is heading in the future. This paper explains that search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Ask.com will be in danger in the future due to the ever-expanding popularity of social media and the tendencies of internet-users to turn to these sites for searching instead. I believe this to be very enthralling and will stay up to date on any new ideas.

Here are the notes I took on “Speakers & Speeches: Social Media Friend or Foe?” – October 24, 2008. This was a panel discussion led by the CEO of Ragan Communications, Mark Ragan, about social media becoming incorporated into his company.

Why should we blog in corporate America?

Customer’s are having conversations and we need to listen to them.

When we listen to them, we are building relationships and become “passionate evangelists” and part of our community.

Accessibility is key. We need to be accessible to audiences of all ages.

We need to have a place for people to talk on “our playground” and be authentic.

Who is writing the blog?

Employees that are in the trenches, so to speak. They have the details consumers are interested in and then the CEO can blog ever once in a while about overall concepts.

What if someone writes something bad about us on our own blog?

There will be certain guidelines and restrictions enforced making that a non-issue.

Also, you don’t have control over your customers, so this way you can hear a problem and deal with it instantly.

It is in the companies best interest to remain “transparent”, to show the culture and process of the organization to the public.

What is the ROI, or bottom line?

Understanding customers is priceless.

Marriott hotels made $10 billion through blogging.

This is an open-source technology so it is basically free.

What about people using social media at work?

Social media is good during work hours. It is a form of collaboration and work life integration.

Work place policies will be implemented and strongly enforced.

Where should we be in 5 years as far as social media goes?

We need to be experimenting with new technology all the time to be ahead of the game.

We must be adaptable to new technology and open to it.

Communications people need to work on building relationships with IT people in their company.

Blogs are commonplace nowaday’s among many. There are many ways to jazz up you’re blog. Two common add-ons are widgets and badges.

Wikipedia defines a web widget as “a portable chunk of hat can be installed and executed within any separate HTML-based web page by an end user without requiring additional compilation.” This lingo is a little technologically heavy for me so allow me to put this in layman’s terms. Widgets are pretty much apps for your blog. Widgets can include calendars, countdowns, flight arrival schedules, even horoscopes. Widgets are created on the basis of a code reuse. Code reuse is simply the use of existing software. Widgets are usually placed on the left or right sidebar of your webpage.

A web badge is a simple icon placed on your website that links back to another page, usually a page you want to endorse. For example, Apple Microsoft has developed several badges for Apple users to paste on their blog or website. Apple explains that this is a way to “ reinforce Apple’s corporate and brand identities, while reaping the benefits of those identities.” In short, a web badge is a great marketing tool.

I am a huge fan of the small club in Statesboro called the Swing Cat Society. As you may have guessed, the group is comprised of around 25 social dancers who share the love of swing and shag. As of right now, the club is virtually non-existent in the social media world. I believe it would be a fantastic idea for this group to create a blog and then add certain widgets and badges to extend their reach and viral marketing.

The beauty of widgets and badges is, they are virtually free! The Swing Cat Society may have to employ a social media expert for a low fee, but the group members could probably run the blog themselves.

If I were in charge of putting the Swing Cat Society’s blog together the first widget I would add is a simple calendar along with a countdown clock marking their important events and meetings. I would also add a twitter widget. I would place badges for Georgia Southern University on the site as it is a university club. I would also place a badge for the Swing Cats Society of America on the site to show the authenticity of the group.

Widgets and badges are a true must on any effective website. You must allow people ample opportunites to get your message and widgets and badges aid in this endeaver.

The podcast begins with a short introduction of the podcast and the topic of social media’s advantages for all types of business. (0 -22 sec)

Next I give a quick background of social media and the huge role it plays in our society at the moment. (23-1:09 sec)

I briefly discuss a conversation I had with my father about social media, and how he didn’t believe in the benefits of social media. I talk about an experiment I conducted with him to prove otherwise. ( 1:11- 2:36).

I then discuss the main point I am trying to make in my broadcast, social media is good for everyone, big or small (2:39- 3:10).

Next I discuss an event I did the PR for called “Behind the Veil” for Savannah Magazine and how social media was implemented for the publicity. (3:12-3:57).

I then go back to the story with my dad and inform the audience that changes have been made for his corporations social media presence
(3:59-4:47)

I finish up with my final thoughts on the matter as well as thanking those who helped create my podcast (4:48-5:25).

This was a really fun project and I plan to do a podcast each month on various things public relations related. I’ll keep you all posted! Thanks!